Dragun's suicide may have been
avoided: coroner

The suicide death of newsreader Charmaine Dragun was
probably preventable if her mental condition had been
properly diagnosed, a Sydney coroner has found.

He also said the suicide would not have happened if
Dragun had been prevented access to the cliff edge at
The Gap.

Deputy State Coroner Malcolm MacPherson said the
diagnosis that Dragun suffered from depression was
"almost certainly wrong" and she most likely had a
bipolar disorder.

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The coroner said if the health professionals treating
Dragun had made the correct diagnosis "she would have
been properly treated with a mood stabiliser and she
probably would not have committed suicide".

The coroner was handing down his findings at the
Coroner's Court in Glebe today into the death of the
29-year-old, who jumped to her death at The Gap in
Sydney's east, on November 2, 2007.

The coroner made a number of recommendations,
including the need for increased awareness among health
professionals to exclude a bipolar disorder in all
patients presenting with signs and symptoms of
depression.

He also said the issue of funding for the completion
of suicide prevention work at The Gap was vital.

Dragun had a budding career with Network Ten and was
about to marry when she committed suicide.

The coroner said he was comfortably satisfied her
death was an act of suicide.

"Her jump from the cliff at the gap was done with
intent and in the full knowledge of its consequences,"
he said.

He said the change in her drugs regime in the lead-up
to the death could not be said to have "caused" her
suicide, in the sense that they put the idea into her
head or "caused" her to behave in an irrational way and
with no control over her actions.

"Quite apart from the deficiencies in her management
by her health professionals, Charmaine's suicide would
not have happened if she had been prevented access to
the cliff edge at The Gap," Mr MacPherson said.

Earlier, he described Dragun as a "talented and
successful newsreader" who seemingly had everything to
live for.

He noted that her family and partner believed that
she would have wanted "to assist others struggling with
mental illness" and therefore wanted her story to be
told.

Dragun's mother said outside court today she hoped
the recommended changes in mental health care would mean
her daughter "has not died in vain".

Mrs Dragun said it had been very emotional morning
but a "very fruitful one".

She said "we can all learn" from the coronerís
investigation and "we can all make a difference".

"Hopefully the medical profession will read and take
in the findings and we will see a difference in medical
health care," she said.

"My daughter then has not died in vain."

Asked to describe her daughter, she said she was
"beautiful, bubbly and the most caring and wonderful
daughter anyone could have".

Dragunís long-term love, Simon Struthers - whom she
was planning to marry on her 30th birthday - told
reporters the inquest had provided a positive outcome to
help other people.

"I think even if it goes some way to even just
raising a bit of awareness and started people talking
about it in the community, that is a start," he said.

He said people had to realise the issue of mental
health should be talked about openly.

Asked what advice he had for people in Dragunís
mental health position, Mr Struthers said he urged them
to talk to their friends and families who, would be with
them "every step of the way".